San Antonio – It was important to get off to a good start at home against the Nuggets on Sunday night, but the San Antonio Spurs downplayed any pressure before Game 1.
“I think it’s always important to win Game 1 because it sets the tone and because you want to keep your homecourt advantage,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said before the Nuggets’ 93-87 Game 1 victory. “At the same time, it doesn’t mean anything, especially in a seven-game series.”
Added guard Brent Barry: “It’s so much different now that every series is seven games. In a five-game series in the first round, that first game is much more important.
“But obviously you work a lot to try to gain homecourt advantage. We played a lot of games throughout the season where that was important for us. We played well here at home and that’s something we want to continue doing, playoffs or not.”
San Antonio went 38-3 at home during the regular season, with one of the losses to the Nuggets.
“We definitely want to start playing well to show that we are not going to make too many mistakes and give them a lot of confidence,” guard Manu Ginobili said. “(The Nuggets), with confidence, are very, very dangerous.”
Rockets’ blueprint
If the Spurs were looking for a solution to Denver’s fast-paced offense, it didn’t have to go too far. The Houston Rockets slowed the fast-paced Nuggets to a crawl in a 115-87 win April 16. The Spurs looked at video of that game before Game 1.
Brown out for Game 2?
Before Game 1, Spurs star reserve Devin Brown expressed a desire to play in the first game. Popovich, however, struck that notion down, saying Brown might not even be available for Wednesday’s Game 2.
Brown has been suffering from a herniated disk.
Rockin’ Robinson
He is known as the Big Dog, but the only thing large about Glenn Robinson for much of this season was his time off. No team signed him at the beginning of the season, and he sat until the Spurs came calling April 4. He was signed for the remainder of the season and has given San Antonio a much-needed boost on the perimeter.
“We needed offense,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “When Devin went down, it really hurt our depth. We needed somebody who could score. We were concerned about it because he hadn’t played in about a millennium.”
The move paid off. In 17 minutes per game, Robinson averaged 10 points per game on 44 percent shooting, helping the injured Spurs stay afloat.
“I’m feeling good,” said Robinson, who scored two points in six minutes Sunday. “I’ve been getting 18-22 minutes, and the next day my body is feeling great.”
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
